Guests entering Kennywood through its famous tunnel might get a whiff of cotton candy this season.
Kennywood will open for its 128th season on April 18, and a scent machine is among a suite of park additions that include new food options, ride tributes, beautification projects, weekend events and celebrations for America’s 250th birthday.
The 2026 season marks the park’s first under Herschend, a family-owned attractions company in suburban Atlanta that bought Kennywood, along with Sandcastle and Idlewild, last spring.
“Kennywood pride and tradition are still going to remain the same,” said Kennywood communications director Lynsey Winters on Wednesday. Season upgrades are “focused on enhancing the overall guest experience,” she said.
Guests will see improvements at Lost Kennywood, the park section preserving its oldest rides, as Kennywood marks two major ride anniversaries. The Whip, Kennywood’s oldest surviving flat ride, turns 100, and is christened with a new cursive ride logo. Though it first opened in 1919 with 12 cars, The Whip is being celebrated for its 1926 debut as a rarer 16-car ride.
The Phantom’s Revenge, currently nominated as a USA Today 10Best Roller Coaster, celebrates its 25th anniversary with a new logo on the front of both coaster trains. Kennywood has rearranged the coaster cars to alternate between the Phantom’s signature green and purple, upgraded the station, and rerecorded the original ride sounds and added them back to the queue line.
New red benches also honor the Thunderbolt wooden coaster.
“Something that we’re focusing on over the next few years is you’ll see more ride theming come to life throughout the park,” Winters said. “(It’s) bringing some little fun, eclectic things everywhere.”
Two new food locations will also open. Centennial Grill — named as a nod to the Whip’s anniversary — is set to open in Lost Kennywood and will serve park classics including cheesesteaks and tater tots. The Big Dipper ice cream stand will pay tribute to the park’s Dipper roller coaster, which operated at Kennywood from 1948 until 1984, offering “hard-scooped” ice cream, banana splits and other sweet treats.
A roster of seasonal events will extend into 2027. Beginning opening day, the park will launch Celebrate Kennywood Weekends, a nostalgic springtime event partially inspired by the park’s now 50-year-old Potato Patch fries. Running weekends through May 10, guests are invited to dress in their spiffiest Kennywood outfits and wander the park’s lagoon. On the menu are potato-themed foods including three new varieties of fries — cheesesteak, rosemary truffle and maple cinnamon sweet potato waffle fries — along with a buffalo pierogi flatbread, Irish nachos, a sweet potato cupcake, and more.
The Bites and Pints Food and Drink Festival returns Memorial Day Weekend, inviting parkgoers to buy a special Bite Card and sample international dishes and paired beverages around Kennywood’s lagoon. France and Germany will “re-debut” and join the lineup of featured countries, including Cuba, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Poland and South Korea.
On July 4, the park will celebrate America’s 250th Birthday with Zambelli fireworks, special activities and entertainment. More than 300 drones will continue the show every Saturday and Sunday from July 11 through July 26.
The 76th annual Fall Fantasy Parades will return in August, followed by Kennywood’s day-to-night fall event, Phantom Fall Fest, running select days from Sept. 11 to Nov. 1. The 2026 season wraps Holiday Lights from Nov. 13 through Jan. 3.
Kennywood’s gates will open at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 18.